7:46

The high pressure weather continues. Cold nights, temperature inversion, lovely still sunny days, cold returning as shadows from the hill start at 15:30. Yesterday it was minus 2 here, -7 in the village below in the valley bottom and plus seven at the top of the pass at 1000m.

I’ve been grass cutting and mulching leaves with the mower and then chucking the lot on the veg beds for the new season. Lots of pruning too. Old variety , multi-stemmed apple trees that I probably should have cut down and replaced with more resilient modern varieties but I’ve not had the heart to do it.

Took the Husqvarna cutter into the local workshop to see if they can make it lighter, with more traction thus rendering the coming season’s grass cutting on steep slopes less onerous. As if. It’s a good machine but takes quite a beating.